Impact of TV on kids

It is known that watching television is the favorite activity for children. They can spend hours in front of the screen enjoying what they see. Then the obvious question is the following: what are the effects of TV programs on children? Through this blog article, I will try to bring answers for this question and analyze this serious issue.

       Television viewing has strong effects on health and comportment in young publics. It decreases physical movement and has negative consequences on obesity and temperament. Moreover, it reduces attention with effects on long and short-time intellectual roles. Some studies show that TV watching restricts the development of some talents in children, changing also the electrical activity of the brain. The appearances of movie language which effect emotive reactions more than thinking can be powerfully undesirable for kids. This is particularly obvious for preschool youngsters.

An experiment was conducted on 122 10-year-old children (69 boys and 53 girls) attending a homegrown basic institute. The study was accepted by the ethics commission of the University of Siena. Before the start of the test, kids were given complete material on the investigational process, and their parents signed an informed agreement. The experimentation involved a 5-min hearing test conferring to the procedure of auditory vigilance test (AVT). Applicants were experienced in similar environmental and physiological situations. Each one sat in a relaxed lolling chair, in front of a TV monitor with the forefinger of his leading hand on the key of an adapted laptop keyboard. Before the beginning of the research children were given detailed commands on the experimental technique. The AVT was used to study the member's aptitude to preserve a tolerable level of reaction to boring repetitive signs (vigilance). Every topic was offered with monotonous aural incentives (for example: DI-DA-DI-DA) and he/she had to drive the key when the series arbitrarily changed (for example: DI-DI-DA-DA). Participants were separated into three groups: Group 1 (41 subjects) achieved two tests: 1) Sound only test (SO): themes completed AVT for 5 min in front of the TV screen, which persisted blank. During this period, contributors could listen to the speeches and music of the film “Window Cleaners” (animation, Walt Disney Pictures, 1940; printed film format: DVD, 2006 edition) in the contextual (TV volume: medium level), but no image appeared on the screen. 2) Black and white animation quiz (BW): 30 days later, a 5-min TV movie in black and white was shown to the participants, who were wished to perform an AVT. The movie was “Bee at the Beach” (animation, Walt Disney Pictures, 1950; printed film format: DVD, 2006 edition). Group 2 (28 subjects) performed two tests: 1) Sound only test (SO): subjects performed AVT for 5 min in front of the TV screen, which continued outright. During this period, participants could listen to voice and music of the film “Window Cleaners” in the background (TV volume: medium level), but no picture acted on the screen. 2) Color cartoon test (CC): 30 days later, a 5-min TV movie in color arrangement was exposed to the applicants, who were demanded to do an AVT. The movie was “Bee at the Beach” (animation, Walt Disney Pictures, 1950; printed film format: DVD, 2006 edition). When associating SO examination with both BW and CC tests, an important rise in mutually RT and number of mistakes was current. In study 1, a major dissimilarity is present between SO tests of groups 1 and 2, revealing a base dissimilarity of the two cohorts. Response time and faults augmented in both groups 1 and 2 during the film. The growth was chiefly apparent relating T1 with T2. During the SO test, faults are largely “false reactions”, but in BW and CC tests, errors are more frequent and they are mostly “omissions”.

 (Distracting effect of TV watching on children's reactivity)

Unfortunately, kids will never change this habit and love television like a member of their own family. According to Bart Simpson, a character from the cartoon THE SIMPSONS: “It's just hard not to listen to TV: it's spent so much more time raising us than you have.” (http://www.zona-pellucida.com/media.html)

Distracting effect of TV watching on children's reactivity European Journal of Pediatrics; Sep2010, Vol. 169 Issue 9, p1075-1078, 4p, 2 Charts, 2 Graphs  Dipartimento di Pediatria, Ostetricia e Medicina della Riproduzione, Università di Siena, Siena, Italy:Carlo Belleni , Fontani Giulio,Franco C.